Apparatus for rethreading ropes or cables for cranes, hoists and the like



Feb. 6, 1968 Y R. THOMPSON. JR.. ET AL 3,367,599

APPARATUS FOR RETHREADING ROPES OR CABLES FOR CRANES, HOISTS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 11, 1966 2 Sheets-Shee t 1 IN V EN TORS'.

ROTH EY THOMPSON, JR.

ORRIS M. FELLMAN BY .7 ATTORNEY.

Feb. 6, 1968 R THOMPSON. JR.. ET AL 3,367,599

' APPARATUS FOR RETHREADING ROPES OR CABLES FOR CRANES, HOISTS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 11, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

FIG. 3.

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent M 3,367,599 APPARATUS FOR RETHREADING ROPES OR I(JIIAIkBLES FOR CRANES, HOISTS AND THE E Rothey Thompson, Jr., 2604 Lawrence St., East Gary, Ind.

46405, and Orr-is M. Fellman, Rte. 1, Box 102, Lake Village, Ind. 46349 Filed Aug. 11, 1966, Ser. No. 571,894 8 Claims. (Cl. 24286.5)

This invention relates to the maintenance of cranes, hoists and generally like mechanisms utilized for lifting and transport of loads in the ferrous metals and other industries and is especially directed to a movable vehicle designed to receive a reel of rope or cable, hereinafter generically termed cable, and the pulley block of the mechanism to facilitate replacement of an old and worn or damaged cable by a new one.

Our invention is of maximum utility in rethreading cranes, within which term we herein include hoists and other lifting devices, of the character employed in such industries which are capable of elevating and transporting extremely heavy burdens such as ladles containing many tons of molten metal; the crane parts must therefore be correspondingly massive, and it is not unsual for a crane pulley block to weigh hundreds of pounds and thus be incapable of convenient manipulation. Nevertheless it has been the practice when such cranes require cable replacement merely to lower the pulley block to the shop floor on which it is allowed to rest, perhaps with some relatively unstable lateral support during rethreading of the crane with a new cable. This is a tedious and somewhat hazardous operation as the new cable sometimes becomes snarled as it is being drawn over the crane pulleys or onto its drum and tends to topple the supports for the reel on which the new cable is wound or to lift the pulley block in random fashion dangerous to persons working in the vicinity.

In accordance with thepresent invention however, movable means are provided comprising a positive and firm mount for a cable reel, an equally positive and firm mount for a pulley block, which is adjustable to accommodate pulley blocks of many different specific shapes and sizes, and other auxiliary equipment facilitating the renewal of a crane cable or the like with minimum of effort and time consumed and substantially without danger of bodily harm to operatives.

More particularly it is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a movable wheeled vehicle of the character aforesaid to enable the labor and risk incident to rethreading a steel mill crane or the like to replace a worn or damaged cable with a new one to be reduced to a minimum and further to minimize the down time of the crane while this operation is being performed.

A further object isto render more accurate than feasible with practices heretofore in vogue the determination of the length of cable required for rethreading a crane to thereby avoid waste of cable thru inaccuracies in this determination.

Other objects, purposes and advantages of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear or will be understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment of it as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of said embodiment partly broken away to show the interior;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a front end view;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the arrangement of the cable in a typical steel mill crane of which substantially only the pulleys over which the crane cable passes, the drum on which it is wound and to which one 3,367,599 Patented F eb. 6, 1968 end is secured, an anchor for the opposite or dead end of the cable and the cable itself are represented, and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail in vertical section of appropriate and convenient anchoring means for said end.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein is represented a pulley block B from which depends a hook H it will be understood this is typical of pulley blocks of various shapes and sizes which the vehicle shown in the drawings is adapted to receive and the old cable C shown passing around pulley P (of which there may be more than one) in the block is representative of a worn or damaged cable it is desired to replace.

The said vehicle comprises generally a substantially rectangular horizontal bed 1 from which depend rear brackets 2 receiving an axle 3 on the ends of which are mounted wheels 4 while the forward end of the bed is supported -by a steering arm bearing 6 and steering arm 7 cooperating thru a fifth wheel bearing 8, the steering arm 7 resting on axle 9 carried on wheels 10, 10'. A draw bar 11 is pivoted to the steering arm 7 on a bolt 12 and supports a forwardly projecting eye 13 for reception of a coupling (not shown) whereby a tractor or other powered towing mechanism may be connected for moving the vehicle about the mill floor.

Mounted on bed 1 and extending upwardly therefrom are opposed side plates 15, 15 to the outer faces of each of which are welded spaced elongated triangular buttress plates 16, 16' while their upper edges are provided with horizontally aligned notches 17 into selected pairs of which may be disposed movable block supporting bars 18, 18' each comprising end bearings 19, 19 for reception in any pair of transversely aligned notches 17, a block receiving plate 20 and reinforcing wings 21, 21' preferably embracing bars 18, 18 respectively to enhance their rigidity.

Slidably mounted in ways 25, 25' on bed 1 between plates 15, 1,5 is a plate 26 carrying pairs of respectively transversely aligned upright standards 27 and 28 in each of which is a series of perforations 29 and a transversely extending hold down bar 30 is provided and adapted to be adjustably secured to the standards in a position to engage crane hook H for holding the block B upright on the block supporting bars 18, 18. Means for adjustably securing the hold down bar 30 to standards 27 or 28 as the case may be, may comprise, as shown, a plurality of strap clamps 31 vertically slidable on the standards respectively having holes receiving locking pins 33 enterable in the holes in the clamps and the appropriate perforations 29 in the standards so the hold down bar may be in effect locked in the crane hook to prevent the latters being lifted from the vehicle during a cable rethreading operation, the two different pairs of standards preferably provided enhancing the versatility of the vehicle.

Forwardly from side plates 15, 15 the bed supports roller standards 35, 35 desirably reinforced by triangular buttress plates 36, 36 and carrying at their upper ends guides 37, 37' through which pass roller arms 38, 38' having threaded holes for reception of cap screws 40, 40 extending thru the corresponding upper ends of the roller standards whereby the position of the roller arms may be adjusted to vary the position of cable guide roller 41 rotatably carried by bearings 42, 42 journaled in the free ends of roller arms 38, 38.

For supporting a cable reel R on th'e'vehicle we provide transverse I-beams 45, 45 welded to its bed and constituting ways for reel carriages 46, 46' to the bottom base plates 47 of each of which respectively is welded a pair of angles 48, 49 whereby the spacing of carriages 46, 46' longitudinally of beams 45, 45 may be adjusted without their being free to topple over. Desirably they are reinforced by truncated triangular buttress plates 50, 50' and at their upper ends are notched at 51 to receive respectively one of the ends of a cable reel supporting axle 52 which after a reel R has been mounted on it and its ends deposited in notches 51, may be locked in position by complementarily notched locking plates 55, 55 releasably secured to the upper ends of reel carriages 46, 46' by cap screws or bolts 56.

Coming now to utilization of this vehicle as an adjunct to the operation of supplying a replacement cable to a crane the existing cable on which has become worn or damaged, it will be assumed the disposition of the old cable C is more or less as indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 4, that is, from one end secured to crane cable drum D, it then passes over a mast or boom sheave S, perhaps after first having passed over one or more idlers (not shown), thence to a sheave S in the crane pulley block B and ultimately to a dead end anchorage A which may be fixed to the crane boom (not shown) or other appropriate place. If to obatin a mechanical advantage the boom and block respectively carry a number of sheaves there is mere duplication in the number of times the cable passes from the boom to block and back and it will therefore be understood that FIG. 4 is simplified for convenience and may be considered as representing the arrangement of a cable passing over a plurality of boom and block sheaves and even one in which the dead end anchorage A is positioned on block B instead of on the boom or other support.

The vehicle being supplied with a reel R containing a new cable C of which an appropriate length is to be transferred to the crane it is towed or otherwise maneuvered to the vicinity of the latter and the block B is thereupon lowered onto the block supports 18, 18 which have been previously positioned in the proper notches 17 for receiving it. The hook H depending from the block is then locked in place by actuation of the hook hold down mechanism heretofore described and the block thus firmly secured in upright position on its supports.

The old cable is next cut adjacent its dead end anchorage A, its now free end brought to the vicinity of the vehicle and welded or spliced to the free end of new cable C on reel R and the crane cable drum D set in motion to wind on the old cable; as the new cable passes over guide roller 41 and the boom and block sheaves it progressively occupies the relations formerly held by the old cable until the weld W between the old and the new cables reaches the drum D, or nearly so. The composite cable is then cut at the weld and temporarily suitably supported against retrograde movement, the drum D reversed to discharge the old cable from it for discard or other appropriate disposition, and the adjacent now free end of the new cable removed from its temporary support and secured to the drum in place of the old. The drum is then set in motion to wind upon it an appropriate length of new cable, which may be more or less depending on the surrounding circumstances, and after it has received a sufficient amount the drum is stopped and more new cable unreeled from reel R sufiicient to reach dead end anchorage A. The new cable is then cut adjacent the reel and the new end of the cable on the crane then carried to the anchorage and secured, whereupon the hook hold down bar may be released, block B hoisted by the crane from its position on the vehicle and the latter removed to another location as for example to service another crane. It of course will be apparent the reel supporting mechanism and other components may be made wide enough to enable two or more reels of new cable to be received whereby a plurality of cables may be supplied simultaneously to the same or different cranes.

Reference has been made to a dead end anchorage as well as to one on the crane cable drum and while these may partake of any appropriate or suitable character or type we have found useful and prefer to employ one constructed substantially as illustrated on FIG. 5. This comprises a sleeve 60 carrying an integral eye 61 thru which a bolt or other element (not shown) may be entered to secure the sleeve to the supporting structure; a loop L formed in the cable adjacent an end thereof is then disposed in the sleeve and a key 62 inserted thru slots 63 in the side faces of the sleeve and within the loop. The free end of the cable is then drawn upon and the loop forces key 62 to clamp both sides of the loop against the inside of the sleeve effectively preventing escape of the cable therefrom. If desired, of course, and as an additional precaution, the free end of the cable may be secured to the standing part by cable clamps (not shown) or in any other desired manner, the securement of the cable ends constituting no part of the invention.

It will be evident that with the aid of our invention threading of a new cable into a crane to replace an old one can proceed smoothly and rapidly substantially without interruption due to cable snagging, displacement of block or reel stays or supports or other delays and that the estimate of the amount of cable required to rethread a given crane can be made with much closer approximation than formerly, as the portion to be supplied to the crane need not be severed from that remaining on the reel until the crane has been substantially fully rethreaded and the operation of determining how much cable should be drawn from the reel before it is cut for securement to the dead end anchor A is much simpler and less susceptible of error than the previous practice of estimating the length of the entire cable to be utilized and cutting it from that remaining on the supply reel before any of it has been introduced to the crane into which it is to be threaded. In this way appreciable savings may be effected of cable which might otherwise be wasted as short lengths or as superfluous amounts on crane storage drums and the best use is thus made of substantially all the cable initially on a full supply reel. As some steel mill crane cables are laid up from a multitude of small wires of the finest steel, often with fibrous lubricant-saturated cores at the centers of the respective strands, and are hence relatively expensive to procure, it will be evident that a saving of but a few feet of cable at each rethreading operation can aggregate a considerable monetary sum. Of course when hemp, nylon or other cables or ropes of organic materials are concerned the same principles apply, although splices as distinguished from weldments will be used in joining the old rope with new.

Moreover while we have herein with some little attention to detail shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention we do not desire or intend to be thereby limited or confined thereto in any way, as changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement and relationship of the several parts and components thereof will readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be utilized if desired without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. A vehicle of the character described comprising a horizontal bed, means projecting upwardly from the bed for receiving horizontal pulley block supports, block supporting means carried by said upwardly projecting means, means carried by the bed for securing a block book when a block is disposed on said block supporting means with its hook depending there below, cable guiding means mounted adjacent the block supporting means and cable reel supporting means carried by the bed oppositely disposed from said block supporting means with respect to said cable guiding means. 2. A vehicle as defined in claim 1 in which said upwardly projecting means comprise transversely spaced side plates having notches in their upper edges for re ceiving said block supporting means.

3. A vehicle as defined in claim 2 in which said block supporting means comprise cylindrical bars having their ends entered in transversely aligned pairs of said notches and fiat plates secured to said bars between said upwardly projecting means.

4. A vehicle as defined in claim 1 in which said hook securing means comprise upstanding standards adjustable longitudinally of the bed, a horizontal bar extendable through the hook between said standards and means for securing the ends of the bar respectively to the latter.

5. A vehicle as defined in claim 1 in which said cable guiding means comprise a pair of parallel upstanding roller supports, roller arms carried by said supports adjacent the upper ends thereof and a roller paralleling the bed having its ends journalled in the ends of said roller arms.

6. A vehicle as defined in claim 5 in which horizontal roller arm guides are carried by the roller supports adjacent the upper ends thereof and the roller arms are slidable in said guides.

7. A vehicle as defined in claim 1 in which said reel supporting means comprise beams forming ways disposed transversely of the bed, upwardly directed reel supporting brackets slidable on said ways and having axle-receiving notches at their upper ends, a reel carrying axle having its ends disposed in said notches and releasable means for securing said ends in said notches.

8. A vehicle of the class described comprising a horizontal substantially rectangular bed, ways secured to the bed paralleling its lateral edges, 21 plate slidable in the ways and carrying a pair of perforated upstanding elongated supporting members, upstanding side plates disposed outwardly from said Ways having notched upper edges for reception of block supporting means, said means comprising a pair of bars each having its ends respectively entered into a pair of aligned notches in said side plates for reception of a pulley block carrying a depending hook, means adapted to engage the hook when the block is disposed on said bars for retaining the block upright thereon, means engaging said supporting members for releasably securing the hook engaging means thereto and means for supporting a cable-carrying reel adjacent the side plates for rotation to feed cable from the reel through the pulley block while so supported in rethreading with cable drawn from the reel a crane of which the block is a component.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,247,498 7/1941 Hunt 254-188 WILLIAM S. BURDEN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A VEHICLE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED COMPRISING A HORIZONTAL BED, MEANS PROJECTING UPWARDLY FROM THE BED FOR RECEIVING HORIZONTAL PULLEY BLOCK SUPPORTS, BLOCK SUPPORTING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID UPWARDLY PROJECTING MEANS, MEANS CARRIED BY THE BED FOR SECURING A BLOCK HOOK WHEN A BLOCK IS DISPOSED ON SAID BLOCK SUPPORTING MEANS WITH ITS HOOK DEPENDING THERE BELOW, CABLE GUIDING MEANS MOUNTED ADJACENT THE BLOCK SUPPORTING MEANS AND CABLE REEL SUPPORTING MEANS CARRIED BY THE BED OPPOSITELY DISPOSED FROM SAID BLOCK SUPPORTING MEANS WITH RESPECT TO SAID CABLE GUIDING MEANS. 